C OURT OF A PPEALS FOR THE

F IRST D ISTRICT OF T EXAS AT H OUSTON

O RDER AND N OTICE OF I NTENT TO D ISMISS FOR W ANT OF P ROSECUTION

Appellate case name: Rose Patricia Ann Shields, Oscar Urbina, and Arnold Shields,

Individually, d/b/a Galveston Service Company, d/b/a Blu

Shields Construction v. Commercial State Bank, Douglas

Faver, Suzanne Hubbard, Daniel Jurgena, Roxanne

Tomolialo, Joseph Cox, Thomas Walsh and Gina F.

Dominique

Appellate case number: 01

- 16

- 00643

- CV

Trial court case number: 2015

- 06750

Trial court: 129th District Court of Harris County

This Court’s April 18, 201 7 Order, among other things, struck appellant s’ brief for

non

- compliance with the page limit and briefing rules, under Rules 9.4 and 38.1, and

ordered an amended brief to be filed within 30 days of that Order. See T EX

. R. A PP

. P

. 9.4(i)(2)(B), (4); 38.1. On May 18 , 2017

, appellants, A rnold “Blu” Shields , Individually,

d/b/a Galveston Service Company, d/b/a Blu Shie lds Construction, Rose Patricia Ann

Shields, and Oscar Urbina, filed a n amended 86

- page pro se brief.

Absent a motion to exceed the word limit, which was not filed here, the

appellant s ’ initial brief is limited to 15,000 words if computer

- generated, and 50 pages if

not, and the aggregate of all briefs filed by a party must not exceed 27,000 words if

computer

- generated, and 90 pages if not. See T EX

. R. A PP

. P

. 9.4(i)(2)(B), (4). After a

review of this brief, while the certificate of compliance states that appellants’ brief

contains 2,622 words, it totals 87 pages because it again contains various documents from

the record interspersed in the brief

, instead of in a separate appendix or a f t er the brief,

making it difficult to tell where the brief’s arguments end and the record begins

. See id.

9.4 (h), (i)(2)(B), (3). Thus, th is amended brief exceeds the total page limit.

Accordingly, t he Court sua sponte STRIKES this amended brief because i t does

not c o m p l y with Texas Rule s of Appellate Proc e dure 9.4 and 3 8.1

. See T EX

. R. A PP

. P

. 9.4 (i)(2)(B), 38 .1 (a)

- (k) , 38.9(a). T he Court ORDERS the brief redrawn to conform withRule 9.4, with page numbers at the bottom, 15,000 words or less if computer

- generated,

or 50 pages or less if not, with a correct ed certificate of compliance. See T EX

. R. A PP

. P

. 9.4(i)(2)(B), (3)

. S pecifically, t he second amended brief also should comply with Rule

38.1 by contain ing the following sections

, in the following order or otherwise :

(1) a l i st of all t h e parties t o the trial c ourt’s j ud g ment and a d dresses of all trial

and appell a te c o unsel;

(2) a table of content s;

(3) an i ndex of authori t ies;

(4) a br i ef state m e n t of the ca s e with re f erences t o the appell a te rec o rd;

(5) a statement regarding oral argument , with any request on the front

cover of the brief ;

(6) a list of the iss u es p r esented f or appe a l;

(7) a stat e ment of f acts supported b y reco r d re f erences;

(8) a sum m a r y of the arg u m ent;

(9) a clear and concise arg u m ent f or the cont e ntions m ade wi t h app r opriate

citatio n s to le g al authorities and the clerk’s re c ord ;

(10) a short conclusion clearly stating the nature of the relief sought; and

(11) an appen d i x, if necessary.

T EX

. R. A PP

. P. 38.1(a)

- (k).

The second amended brief must conform with Rule 38.1 by including the sections

above and containing all necessary references to the clerk’s record filed with this Court or legal authorities. See T EX

. R. A PP

. P. 38.1 (a)

- (k), 38.7, 38.9(a). I f necessary, appellants

may also file a separate appendix with any relevant documents, and the appendix and

section headings above are not included in the word count for the certificate of

compliance for the second amended brief

. See id. 9.4(i)(1) , (3) , 38.1(k)

.

Thus, if appellant s file a second amended brief that does not comply with Rule

38.1

, as set forth above, and with a separate appendix, the Court may strike the redrawn

brief again , prohibit appellant s from filing another brief, and proceed as if appellant s had

failed to file a brief , i.e., dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution. See T EX

. R. A PP . P.

38.1, 38.8(a), 38.9(a). A compliant second amended brief must be filed within 30 days

from the date of this order or this Court may dismiss this appeal for want of prosecution

without further notice. See id. 42.3(b) , (c).

It is so ORDERED.

Judge’s signature: / s/ Laura Carter Higley



Date: M ay 25, 2017